When Destiny Calls : Escape From Pain 2
by Sailor Red
Summary: The sequel to Escape From Pain...


Hey minna! Well, seeing as I've been running all month from the Seki-gumi,  
I've decided to give up and write the sequal to Escape From Pain.  
*Seki-gumi rushes in, murderous glares in their eyes*  
Kamui: Looks like we found her...  
Koji: I'll send a messanger to get the Mt. Reikaku bandits...  
Chichiri: I already contacted Tasuki...just light your bombs, no da.  
Howell: ANIME FIGHT!!  
Van: Quiet you. Alright guys, you know what to do...  
Sailor Red: MATTE!! I'm writing the Fic!! Don't kill me!!  
*Seki-gumi cheers and runs to hug Sailor Red*  
*Sailor Red blushes like crazy*  
Van: Now about that scene I requested...  
Sailor Red: You'll see what happens. Now go home so I can write!  
*Seki-gumi leaves, a huge BOOM sounds from outside...*  
  
What happened to the Seki-gumi? Find out at the end of the Fic! ^_^  
  
PS You DEFINATELY want to read Escape From Pain before reading this fic.   
This is a sequal to that story and, as such, has many issues from it's   
previous incarnation brought up in here. Oh, and if you haven't seen  
ALL of Escaflowne, you're going to ABSOLUTELY lost. This story is spoiler  
intensive!!   
PPS In case you don't know, the Seki-gumi is a compilation of all the   
anime characters voiced by the wonderful Tomokazu Seki, my personal  
favorite Japanese male voice actor. I know more charactors voiced by him,  
but as I haven't seen the animes in which those charactors roam, I kinda  
left 'em out. Also, I haven't seen all of Ceres, so Howell might be a  
little OOC. Gomen.   
Van: I'm OOC too...  
Red: -_-; Don't remind me. You're too complex...  
Van: Ha ha.  
Red: I'll Peck you! (--gomen...too much Kodocha)  
Additional AN: I appoligize for the extremely long AN. I got carried   
away with the Seki-gumi. Seki-sama has that effect on me. *^_^*  
Disclaimer:  
Escaflowne belongs to Bandai, Sunrise, etc. Kamui is from X and belongs  
to CLAMP, Koji and Chichiri are from Fushigi Yuugi and belongs to Yu   
Watase, Studio Pierrot, Movic etc. Howell is from Ayashi No Ceres and   
belongs to Yu Watase, Studio Pierrot, Movic, etc. I have no idea who   
owns Kodomo no Omacha (Kodocha) but it's not me. This fic is copyright  
Sailor Red/September 2001. The Seki-gumi idea belongs to me, the   
characters do NOT!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
When Destiny Calls  
(Escape From Pain 2)  
By Sailor Red  
Rating: PG-13 (lookie! I actually remembered to rate a fic!! -_-;)  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The sun rose, beams of light flowing through open windows. Wind blown   
curtains bringing the salty scent of the ocean into every room of the   
Austurian palace. Sounds of birds twittering in autumn kissed trees and  
...and swords clanging in the courtyard?  
Hitomi woke with a start, eyes wide with fear. She scrambled out of bed,  
nearly tripping on the sheets that once covered her and ran to the window.  
Van and Allen. They were at it again. Those seemingly pointless little   
duels in which they so loved to indulge themselves. Usually Hitomi just  
ignored them, chalked it up to them having some testosterone issues, and  
let them be. However, she had a right mind to do a little yelling at their  
immaturity today. So she proceded to throw some clothes on and run outside  
to where they were still carrying on with their duel. It seemed to last   
longer every day...they had been going at it for a good fifteen minutes   
already...  
"MO! Will you two cut it out?!" Both men stopped mid-stroke, Van's sword  
pointing to Allen's gut, Allen's sword about an inch from Van's shoulder.  
"Look at that! Are you two trying to kill each other or what?!"  
"Um... yeah..."  
"VAN!" Hitomi stared at the midnight haired man in disbelief. Van placed   
his hand on her shoulder, looked into her eyes with the saddest look in   
his she had ever seen, and walked off, sheathing his sword.  
"I'm going inside." Hitomi jumped.  
"Van! Matte!" She yelled, reaching out her hand, and closing it, clasping   
air. She stared for a second, and then rounded on Allen.  
"What's going on?! Allen-san?" The blond glared at her.  
"Van's a little ... upset." He growled.  
"I can SEE that! What..."  
"Well for one, he doesn't seem to like the things I've been saying about   
you..."  
"Wha..What?!"   
"You hurt Celena. She's been unconscious for almost a month now. What...  
you don't EXPECT me to be upset?!" Hitomi glared at the man.  
"Dilandau tried to kill Van!! Then he tried to kill me and Merle!!"  
"THAT'S NO EXCUSE FOR RIPPING HER IN HALF!!!" Allen seethed.  
"WHAT!?! Allen-san, he tried to..." She tried to repeat, but was cut  
off abruptly by the young knight.  
"Dilandau was a part of Celena. He was insane, yes. He was a cold blooded  
murderer, yes, but he was a part of her nevertheless. What were you   
THINKING?! You tear a person's mind in two, and you're only left with half  
a person. A person that only runs on half of their consciousness! How in   
God's name do you think a person can live a normal..."  
"CELENA is NOT NORMAL! She hasn't been normal since the experiment! Don't   
blame ME for what the sorcerers did to her!" Allen clenched his fist at   
his side, trying to resist the urge to slap her. Hitomi was doing the   
same.  
"ONII-SAMA! STOP IT!!" Allen and Hitomi gasped and spun around to see   
Celena trying to walk up to them, sweat lining a determined brow. Allen  
ran to her to hold her steady. "I...I woke up and heard you two fighting..  
.I..." She looked up at Hitomi. "I'm sorry...I've caused so much trouble  
for you..."   
"What are you talking about? She...She..." Allen interupted. Hitomi glared  
at him.  
"No, Onii-sama, you're wrong...Hitomi-sama was protecting herself..."  
"But she...The Voodoo doll...she killed half of you, Cel..." Celena looked  
to the ground with tears in her eyes...  
"No...no she didn't..." She sobbed.  
  
"She only destroyed his body."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Van had barely made it to his room when a messanger stopped him before he  
was able to shut the door.   
"Van-sama! This just came for you from Fanelia!"  
Van thanked the man and ripped open the letter, skimmed it, growled and   
threw it to the floor, stomping on it. This was the other thing that had  
been bothering him. Besides Allen's verbal abuse of Hitomi. The civil wars  
in Fanelia had not stopped when Dilandau had been defeated. As a matter of   
fact, they had gotten worse. His country was in turmoil and there was   
basically nothing he could do about it. On top of that, Merle had recently   
gone out for a walk...and hadn't been back since. He was definately worried  
about her.  
There was a knock at the door.   
"Van? Ne, Van, are you in there?" Hitomi asked quietly through the door.  
He didn't answer. "Look, Van, I'm sorry I yelled at you...you just scared   
me...and..."  
"Come in." Came Van's voice through the door. A soft melancholy sound that   
stabbed through her. She stepped through the door to see Van sitting  
on his bed, looking at the floor, his hand's folded in his lap.  
"Van..." Hitomi breathed "Van, what's wrong?"  
"Nothin..."  
"You're lying." She said as she sat down next to him and waited for him  
to speak. And waited And waited and waited. Finally she sighed and spoke  
up again. "What's wrong, Van?" She tilted his head up with her finger so   
that he'd look at her. When she saw his face her breath caught in her   
throat.   
He was crying.  
As soon as he realized she had noticed he turned his head away and back   
to the floor. Hitomi leaned over and wrapped her arms around him. "Cry.   
Let it out. You don't have to be embarassed around me. You can tell me   
what's going on later. I'm here for you. So just cry." Van blushed for an   
instant, and then let himself succumb to the racking sobs he'd been holding  
back for years. All of the things he never gave himself time to cry about.   
The destruction of his country, the people he killed, his brother's death,   
the lonliness he felt when Hitomi left, his current worries of his country,  
of Merle's current location, if she was okay...everything. He let it all  
out until he, exausted from emotional strain, fell asleep in Hitomi's   
arms.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
The pain gnawed at him even in his dreams. The pit in his stomach   
remained even while unconscious. The hideous feeling that accompanies  
war kicking him in the gut. Ice cold fingers coiling around his heart.  
  
~Not again.~  
  
A pit of despair. An aura of darkness.   
  
"Hikari no naka e" A voice. The low bass of a male voice. A familiar,  
comforting voice. "Into the light." he repeated. "Look into the   
light. Your light. It will guide you."  
"Aniue!" Van exclaimed as he whipped up his head to lock eyes with   
his brother's. "Aniue! How? What?" Folken laughed, a rarity in itself,   
even taken into accout that the man was dead. Van stumbled to his feet.  
"You're asleep. However, make no mistake, this is not a normal dream.  
I'm coming to you through a vision. So you're going to have to deal  
with it." Van glared at him. Folken laughed again. "Don't look at me  
like that. It's not like you've never had a vision before. You got   
visions all the time of Hitomi, ne?"  
"You've developed a sense of humor in death, haven't you..."  
"Still the same punk kid you always were, ne, Van? Anyway, I don't  
have much time, so let me get to the point. I know you're worried  
about Fanelia. I know you think solving your problem without fighting  
seems impossible. It's not. It never is. Just look to your light..."   
Van frowned.  
"Cut the cryptic crap. If you know how to save Fanelia..."  
"Hitomi. She's your light. She's always there for you whenever you're  
having a tough time. Why don't you ask her to help? You don't have to  
be stubborn. You don't have to keep up the macho facade around her.  
She knows you. Inside and out. You can laugh with her, you can cry to  
her, and she never thinks less of you for it. Men act. Women think.  
Right now you need a thinker, not an actor. You've let her into that  
heart of yours you've kept hidden from everyone else. It doesn't make  
you less of a man to ask for help. It makes you more of one." Van   
stared at Folken for a minute and then smiled, nodding in agreement.  
"Arigatou." Folken grinned and started to fade away.  
"Do itashimashite. I'll be watching you. Take care of yourself...  
and...take care of Hitomi."  
"I will. See you later?"  
"Yeah. Much later, God willing. Ja."  
"Ja."  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Van stirred from his slumber, feeling Hitomi's thumb brushing his   
cheek. His heart did a little flip-flop and a blush crept up on him,  
as he lifted his arm to touch her hand. She jumped in surprise and  
he sat up, his hand clasped around hers.  
"You're awake." She stated simply and looked at him questioningly,  
worry displayed on her face. "Are...are you better now?" Van smiled  
warmly at her and released her hand.  
"Un." Relief filled Hitomi's eyes.  
"Thank God. Did you have a nice rest?"  
"Un. How long was I out?"  
"About fifteen minutes..."  
"I had a vision..." Van interupted; Hitomi's eyes grew wide.  
"I spoke with my Aniue." Hitomi's eyes grew wider.  
"Folken-san?!" She exclaimed. "What did you talk about?" Van blushed.  
"You." Hitomi turned red.   
"Me?"  
"He said that I should ask you to help me..." he started, then   
blurted out: "I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to...I know  
last time you got upset at me for asking you to..." Hitomi frowned.  
Van winced internally.  
"I apologized for that, remember? Of course I'll help you. What's   
up?" Van sighed in relief.  
"Well, you know about Fanelia's state right now, right?" She nodded.  
"Do you have any ideas about how to set things right...without   
more violence?" Van looked to the floor. "I don't want anyone to die  
needlessly. I don't want any innocent people to lose their lives."  
Hitomi smiled.  
"I'll see what I can do. I need a little time to think." She rose to   
her feet and started walking towards the door. "Oh, and Merle came   
by. She said to tell you that she had returned. She ended up going to  
Fanelia to check up on things." Van rose to his feet.  
"She WHAT?! She could have been killed!" Hitomi frowned.  
"Is it THAT bad?" Van sighed.  
"I may be overreacting a little bit, but Dilandau's crew was looking  
for her when she left for Austuria, remember?"  
"Yeah, but that's the way Merle is. I'm willing to bet she knew that  
you'd be worried about her if she told you where she was going...she  
...she knows how much all of this is bothering you. She probably   
thought she could find something out to help you, and she's said that  
she'd risk her life for you. She's done it. She'll do it again.  
You're her family. She cares about you more than anything else in   
the world. You're all she's got, so she wants you to be happy as much  
as I do. Why don't you go talk to her, maybe she has some insight   
that your messangers didn't. Meanwhile, I have to go have a chat with  
someone to talk about settling things in Fanelia." Van nodded about  
what Hitomi said about Merle...but...  
"Someone?"  
"Don't ask. I don't want to worry you. I'll take a couple of guards  
with me...just in case." Van's eyes widened.  
"Just in case? What are you planning to do?!" Hitomi smiled.  
"Don't worry about it. Go talk to Merle." Hitomi bolted out of the  
room leaving Van standing there in shock, worry lines creased in his  
forehead.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Hitomi ran down the hall until she was sure that Van wasn't following  
her. She had an idea. An insane, most likely stupid idea, but she was  
going to try anyway.  
  
//"She only destroyed his body."//  
  
She shook her head, trying to convince herself of something one of   
her teacher's back home had said...'No idea is ever a bad idea.'  
Therefore she was going to try to work out this idea. She was   
going to ask Dilandau for help.  
  
"God, I must be mad!"  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Merle was unpacking clothes she had brought back from Fanelia when she  
heard a knock at the door. She had 'uh oh!' written across her face in  
bold print. She knew who was at the door. She knew she had a lot of   
explaining to do...  
"Um...come in." She said to the person behind the door, cringing when  
it opened, confirming her suspicions. Van. She forced a smile.  
"Van-sama!" Van glared at her.  
"Don't you 'Van-sama' me. You used to tell me anything and everything.  
So what's with sneaking off to Fanelia and making me worry about you?"  
Merle looked to her feet.  
"I wanted to help you out. I..." Van sighed.  
"Look, it's all right. I'm just glad you're safe. So...did you find  
out anything?" Merle broke into a smile.  
"You're not mad, then?"  
"Yeah, I am. A little. You know I've had a lot on my mind..."  
"I'm sorry."  
"I know. So don't worry about it. I'll get over it." Merle smiled again.  
"Well, I do have some info for you...if you want to hear it."  
"Of course." Van said. "What'd you find out?"  
"Well, apparantly, Dilandau's troops know out his gender bending issues.  
So, they seem to be waiting for their next command from either him...  
OR Celena." Van's eyes widened. "However, there's an issue to consider  
about asking Celena for help. When I saw Hitomi, she was saying that   
Dilandau was still alive, mentally. That Celena had woken up, quite aware  
of Dilandau's presence. Celena had been saying that Dilandau had been   
talking to her while she was comatose, and that he was still talking to  
her now. He's trying to manipulate her mind, but it seems to me that  
Celena's a lot stronger than she looks. However, for all we know,   
Dilandau could be talking through her, controlling her, and trying   
to make us think that it's Celena doing the talking. It's a very   
difficult situation...but..." Van swallowed the lump in his throat  
as Merle's speech crashed down on him. The only way for him to resolve  
the war peacefully, was to make a deal with the devil himself. Even   
worse was that he had asked...Van's eyes widened in fear. Hitomi.   
He had asked Hitomi to help...and...knowing her, she was probably   
talking to the lunitic right now...by herself...  
"Merle." Merle jumped at the urgency in Van's voice. "Stay here. Don't  
follow me. DON'T say anything to Allen. I'm going to Celena's room."  
"But...Van-sama..."  
"I mean it! I'll be back. I promise." Merle looked like she wanted  
to say something else, but decided against it. A sudden scream broke the  
silence of the palace. Hitomi's scream. Van ran out of the room.  
Merle put a fist to her chest.  
"Van-sama...be careful"  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Hitomi brought with her a couple of guards and had them stand outside of  
Celena's room. Knowing that Van would come after her as soon as he   
found out, she realized that she had to make this talk quick. She took  
a deep breath, stealed her nerves and quietly opened Celena's door. She  
froze in the doorway when she heard Celena scream. The guards beside   
Hitomi put their hands on the hilt of their swords. Hitomi put her   
hand up, motioning them to stop and ran inside the room.   
"Celena. What's wrong!?" The woman was curled into a ball in the corner   
of the room, trembling.  
"Hitomi...stay...stay away from me...he's...Dilandau...is trying...to  
get...out..." Hitomi bit her lip, swallowed hard, and stepped closer  
to Celena.  
  
"Then let him out. I need to talk to him."  
  
Celena froze. Her head then slowly rose, until her eyes met Hitomi's.  
She grinned from ear to ear.  
"Baka onna..." She hissed and rose to her feet. "Stupid...Stupid woman.  
Do you actually think I'm going to talk with YOU?!"  
"Dilandau..."  
"Oh! So the bitch from the mystic moon actually remembers my name!"   
she giggled and started clapping. "Good for you! I was getting SOOOO  
SICK of being called Celena... You've just made my day!! For that, you  
get one of these BEAUTIFUL dolls!! They're homemade you know." Dilandau  
pulled out two dolls. One was a perfect replica of his old Van voodoo   
doll, and the other, was of Hitomi. "Now, remember, you can only choose  
one!" She said. Hitomi felt her heart tear in two. However she knew what   
she had to do.  
"Give me Van's doll." Dilandau's smile grew wider.  
"Aw. Isn't that sweet. Sacrificing yourself for the one you love...Makes  
me want to hurt you!" She said in a sickeningly sweet voice, pulled a   
safety pin off of her dress and thrust it into the Hitomi doll's side.  
Hitomi screamed and fell to the floor, her eyes squeezed shut in pain.  
The guards that were standing outside ran in. Dilandau rolled her eyes,  
grabbed a couple of handfulls of ninja stars, and disposed of them. She   
cleared her throat and walked back over to Hitomi. "Didn't expect me to   
use the same trick twice, did ya?" She laughed, kicking the balled up  
Hitomi. Hitomi groaned. "Hey, don't complain! Look at it this way, at   
least you can sympathize with what your little boyfriend went through!"  
The clunk of a boot sounded at the doorway. Dilandau looked up to see  
a VERY angry Van, shaking with rage.  
"What have you done to Hitomi?!" he screached.  
"The same thing... I did... to you." Dilandau answered in a sing song   
voice, taking the Hitomi doll and twisting it's arm around it's back.   
Hitomi screamed again. "See?"  
Van's eyes widened in terror.  
"Kisama!!!"  
"Ooooh!! You're a naughtly little boy, aren't you?! Such foul   
language!!" Van glared at him. Dilandau laughed. "Wanna hear something  
REALLY funny?!" He threw the Van doll at him. "You see that? That dumb  
bitch had a choice between which one of these cute little dolls she   
wanted. She chose yours. She CHOSE to be put into this pain, rather  
than have YOU go through it again. Isn't that SWEET?!"  
"DILANDAU!!!!" Van roared, putting his hand to his sword. Dilandau put  
a finger to his lips to stiffle a laugh.  
"Tsk Tsk! You do realize I may decide to defend that sword with this   
doll, don't you? Now, I'm SURE you wouldn't want to cut your precious   
Hitomi in half, hmmmm?"  
"Dammit!" Van started shaking again. If he attacked Dilandau, Hitomi   
would be in danger. If he didn't attack Dilandau Hitomi would remain   
in danger. There was nothing he could do...there was nothing...  
"Dil..an..dau..." Hitomi croaked, forcing herself to her feet. Stepping  
towards him. Dilandau cracked up laughing.  
"What are you going to do? Hm? Mr. Swordsman can't do anything. Surely  
YOU can't do anything either...you're just wasting energy..."  
"I...want...to talk to you..."  
"You still want to TALK!!? What kind of moron are you?!!"  
"THE KIND OF MORON WHO'S ONLY WISH IS TO SEE THE PEOPLE I CARE ABOUT  
HAPPY!" She screamed. "Even if I have to leave everyone behind."  
"Hitomi!"  
"Van, gomen...I...I have to leave you." With that, she ran up to Dilandau,  
ripped the doll out of her hands, grabbed onto her arm...  
  
And wished herself home.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Hitomi awoke to find herself in her dormroom, the pain in her side and  
in her arm, gone. When her bleary eyes focused, she realized she was on   
her bed...and that Celena had pulled Hitomi's desk chair over to Hitomi's  
bedside...sitting on it and sobbing into her hands. Hitomi sighed in   
relief. Celena was back in control. Hitomi's plan had worked out the way  
she thought it would. Just like Hitomi's psychic abilities weren't as   
powerful in her world, Dilandau's power over Celena wasn't as powerful  
either.  
"Hi..Hitomi? Are you awake?" Celena's voice was absolutely trembling.  
Hitomi shifted herself to a sitting position and nodded. "Thank God...  
Thank GOD! I thought for a minute that I'd killed you!"  
"No...no, I'm okay...ne, Celena...can you still hear Dilandau?" Celena's  
eyes widened.  
"Wait...no...NO! He's not...is he sleeping?" Hitomi shrugged.   
"I don't know for sure. Now, listen Celena, and listen carefully. We're   
on the Mystic Moon. We're both going to have to go back to Gaea. I   
promised Van that I'd help him to end the war in Fanelia."  
"But...didn't you tell him you were leaving him?" Hitomi smiled slyly.  
"Yeah, I did...but I never said that I wasn't coming back to him. He's   
probably really angry at me right now."  
"I wouldn't say that...but I bet he's really worried about you, what   
with you being with a psychopath like me..."  
"Celena...don't say that. YOU aren't crazy. YOU are one of the nicest  
people I've ever met. It's Dilandau that's nuts."  
"But Dilandau's a part of me...he always will be...I can't beat him..."  
"No!" Hitomi cut her off. "No. You CAN beat him. You're better than he  
is. As long as you have YOUR mind set, he can't affect you. That's all  
he has is a mind, and he doesn't have much of one. You have a strong,   
gentle personality; You're the better part of yourself."  
"But I'm different."  
"No, you're not. Everyone has a little angel and a little devil on thier  
shoulders. You are the angel, Dilandau is the devil. As long as you look  
to YOUR conscience and not to HIS bad example, you'll be okay."  
"I never thought about it that way..."  
"Well, now's a good a time as any to start. Everyone want's to see you   
beat Dilandau. Me, Van, Merle...Allen-san..."  
"My Onii-sama. I bet he's worried about me. I...I hope he doesn't try to  
hurt Van-sama again..."  
"Let's hope not...Look, I have a job for you, If you're up to it."  
"Anything. Just ask."  
"Well, first of all, do you know who Dilandau has working for him?"  
"Of course...we share the same mind after all..."  
"Great. I need you to go to Fanelia and speak with them. You have to   
call off the war. I'll go with you. If something should happen, I'll   
bring you back here to my world. I'll make sure you're not in any   
danger." Celena bit her lip. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.  
"Okay...I'll do it..." Hitomi rushed to give Celena a big bear hug.  
"Arigatou...Domo...Arigatou..." She exclamed through tear filled eyes.  
"Let's go."  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
"WHERE THE HELL IS CELENA?!!" Allen screamed at Van. Van put his hand to   
his head.   
"I told you. Hitomi must have brought her to the Mystic Moon. So STOP   
hounding me. There's nothing I can do about it. There was no way I could  
have stopped her. You KNOW I would have If I could!!!" Allen stopped and  
sighed.  
"I'm sorry." Van facevaulted.  
"Huh?"  
"I'm placing the blame where it doesn't belong again." Allen shook his   
head. "I'm sorry, Van." Van seemed to be in shock.   
"Um...no problem...I guess...just, uh, try not to flip out on me for no   
reason...save if for if I steal a girl from you or someth...shit."  
"Right...that reminds me...you did steal Hitomi from me..." Van bit his   
lip to hold back a laugh.  
"Um...I'm gonna go now...see ya later, loser!" and Van RAN.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
"Destiny called us into the positions we're in now. It's just that the   
feeling of being powerless tears at us. Realizing that sometimes we can't  
be there to protect the people we love. Realizing that people get hurt,   
that people die needlessly, emotionally suffocates us. It leaves us with   
such utter hopelessness that we don't know what to do with ourselves. We   
have to wake up. We have to stop fighting each other. We must realize   
that this fight is pointless. The only people we're hurting is ourselves.  
Drop your swords. Go home. Be with your family. Pray for all of those who   
have lost theirs. Live your lives. Celebrate peace."  
  
Celena walked away from the crowd, a pleased smile on her face. She kept   
on walking as soldiers ran by her, having left their swords behind. They  
were running home. She had done it. She had ignored Dilandau. She had   
convinced them to stop fighting. She was her own person.   
"Celena..." Hitomi walked up to the smiling woman with tears in her eyes.  
"That was beautiful...you..."  
"I beat Dilandau. He's finally gone. I won!"   
"Uh oh, you're getting an ego...we better go warn your brother, he's  
in for a run for his money..." Both of them burst out laughing, stopping  
only when they were interupted by a man's voice.  
"Hey, girl from the mystic moon...what're you doing here?" Hitomi's eyes  
lit up.   
"Ruhm!! Well, my friend Celena here just got rid of Dilandau's troops for  
you guys." The wolf-man's eyes widened.   
"Really?!?! That's wonderful!! Hey, let me set both of you up with a   
room in the palace, and I'll get a message out to Van-sama. That way  
you don't have to back and forth, k?"  
"That'd be great! Um, just make sure you contact Merle and Allen as well."  
"No problem. Let's be off then."   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Hitomi stood at the window of her room, eyes sparkling and smile on her   
face. She was finally where she wanted to be. Austuria was a beautiful   
city, yes, but she much prefered the little town of Fanelia. It had a   
quiet beauty to it now that it had been restored. Now that the people   
walking around knew that there was nothing to fear. That their homes were   
safe; that they could sleep easy tonight, knowing that they wouldn't have   
to fear being attacked anymore.   
She heard a knock at the door and jumped. Before she could answer, Merle  
popped her head in, smiled madly, and ran off.  
"Wha..." She was unable to form a coherent thought as suddenly, she was  
enveloped in a pair of strong arms.  
//sogen no kaori//  
"I thought you had left for good..."  
"Van..." he loosened his embrace and then put his hands on her shoulders.  
"I...I was so worried..." Hitomi smiled.   
"You know, if this gets any more serious, I'm going to have to tickle you  
again..." Van playfully rolled his eyes.  
"Oh yeah?" Hitomi laughed.  
"Yup."   
"Well then..." He put his hands around her waist and lifted her up in the  
air, twirling her in a circle. "Kinda hard to tickle me when you're   
holding on to me, ne?" Hitomi went into fits of giggles.   
"Kinda...hard...to let go of you when you're making me dizzy." Van stopped  
twirling her as his face turned beet red. Hitomi laughed.   
"Hey you two! It's time for dinner! You better come too, the chef REALLY  
outdid himself. Save the sappy love stuff for later..." Merle said,   
grabbed Hitomi's arm, and dragged her out of the room. Hitomi shrugged.  
"Come on, Van, Let's go."  
"Un" Hitomi turned to Merle.  
"Now look what you've done, he's back to one word answers!"  
"Oooh...sorry Hitomi...I'm sure you can get him to talk again though...  
with the way you two were laughing...any juicy gossip?" Her eyes got   
starry. "Come on Hitomi spill! Did you guys kiss yet? I bet you did..."  
Hitomi blushed.  
"No way! You did, didn't you!" She took a look at Van and frowned. "Aw.  
You didn't..." she whined. "Van-sama's still got his 'me no kiss, me hug'  
look going on." Van's mouth dropped open.  
"MERLE!"  
"Hee hee. I'm RI-IGHT!" She ran the rest of the way to the dining room  
and Hitomi and Van followed close behind. When they got there, Allen and   
Celena were already sitting down. They both got up when Merle, Hitomi,   
and Van entered the room. Van smiled.   
"Sit down. We're friends." He looked at Allen. "Well, kind of..." Hitomi  
elbowed him in the side. Van gave her a look that was a fake innocent   
'What?'.   
They all sat down, Allen waiting until Van sat, just to piss him off, and  
one of the hired help started to fill their glasses with Vino. Before the   
guy got to Hitomi, Van spoke up.  
"Um...don't give her any of that, she gets crazy..." Hitomi glared at   
Van, and then replied.  
"Don't give him any either, it makes him more serious than usual..." Van  
smiled.   
"Alright, Alright, have some...but don't complain to me when you get   
drunk again..."  
"And don't complain to ME when I DON'T get drunk and I'm showering you   
with 'I told you so's....'" Celena burst out laughing.  
"You two are so cute. You should get married or something..." Needless to   
say, Hitomi and Van turned more red than their Vino. Allen started   
laughing until his gut hurt. Merle turned to Celena and said:  
"I've been saying that for AGES, but they don't even KISS!! Van-sama's   
a hugger...an..." Van stared at Merle in disbelief.  
"No more Vino for you!! You're cut off!!" Everyone started laughing   
again.   
As the night wore on everyone got wasted, with the exception of Hitomi,  
who ended up dragging everyone, with the help of a couple of guards, to  
bed.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
The next morning, Fanelia was abuzz with the news of a ball that was to  
take place that night at the palace. Everyone was invited, and everyone  
was searching for something to wear for such a rare occasion. It was a   
celebration of the peace Fanelia had finally attained after so many   
years of fighting and unrest. Hitomi, Merle, and Celena decided to do   
their shopping together. Van and Allen went out by themselves, as putting  
them together usually spelled trouble. Unbeknownst to Hitomi, Merle and   
Celena were on a mission to get her the most flattering dress they could  
possably find...so they could laugh when Van's jaw hit the floor. Of   
course, Hitomi caught on, but went with it, because she secretly wanted  
to see exactly what Merle and Celena wanted to see. Except, she didn't   
want to do it so she could laugh at Van's expense...  
Finally, after hours of searching, they found it. It was emerald green   
with silver trim made of sleek satin. It looked beautiful on her. Celena  
and Merle shreaked when she walked out of the dressing room in it, their  
oohing and ahhing heard throughout the store. They chose their dresses   
to compliment Hitomi's. Merle's was peach colored with copper trim,   
Celena's was pure white with silver. The three of them rushed back to the  
palace, and ran to Hitomi's room to do their hair, nails, and accesories.  
When they got there, Hitomi found a little gift wrapped box on her bed.  
"What's this?" Merle grabbed the card from the package, read it, and   
rolled her eyes. She looked to Celena, and they both turned back to   
Hitomi.  
"Van." They both said in unison and laughed.  
"It's...beautiful..."  
"What is it?!" Inside the box was a silver necklace with a waterdrop   
pendant made of diamonds, and a pair of little diamond ear studs. Merle  
smiled.  
"Van-sama's finally making his move! Whoooo!" She cheered, giving Hitomi   
a hug. Hitomi was still staring, shocked and blushing, at the jewlery.  
"Alright chickie, we've got lots to do!! Enough staring at shiny things,   
let's get to work!!" Merle cracked her knuckles, Celena grabbed the   
makeup stuff, and they initiated 'Operation Shock the Hell out of Van'  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
"I am NOT wearing dress shoes!" Van whined. Merle put her hands on her   
hips.  
"Oh yes you ARE!! There's no WAY I'm letting you out there in a Tux and   
your 'Legend of Zelda' boots. Forget it. You'll wear the shoes, and that's  
the end of it!!"  
"Hey, I'm the king, and if I want to wear my boots with my tux at MY   
party then...wait, did you make fun of my boots?"  
"Yup."  
"Merle...don't dis the boots..." Merle rolled her eyes.  
"Look, here's the deal, if you go in there with those LOVELY boots of   
yours, then Hitomi's wearing sneakers. I'm sure she'll be much more   
comfortable in those than those three inch heals Celena and I forced her  
into..."  
"Hitomi's wearing heals?!" Merle threw her hands in the air.  
"Will you wear the shoes or not?"  
"Fine. Can I leave out this bow tie then?" Merle growled. This was going  
to take a LOT of patience.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
"You look good." Merle told Van, who was shifting uncomfortably in his  
Tux, stomping his feet, and yanking at his bowtie.  
"I look like a penguin." Merle rolled her eyes for what must have been  
the millionth time that evening, and then stepped back to view her work.  
Her eyes widened.  
"No...you look REALLY good!"  
"Really?"  
"Van-sama, come on now, you're undeniably the best looking king in Gaea."  
"Really?"  
"Okay, now you're totally fishing for compliments. Just get out there  
and find Hitomi. You don't want to keep her waiting...she'll get pissed."  
he smiled.   
"Yeah." He started to walk out to the party room, and pretended not to   
notice Merle pulling a camera out of her purse. As soon as he stepped   
into the room, he ran into Hitomi. Everything in his brain flew out of   
the room. He forgot how to speak, to think, to move, he just stood there,  
his mouth hanging open. Hitomi looked the same. The flash of a camera   
brought him back to reality. He blinked, swallowed, and walked up to   
Hitomi in a daze.   
"You look...I..." Hitomi smiled.  
"At a loss for words again, Van?" he blushed.  
"Y-yeah." Now that he was closer to her, he realized that she didn't only  
look beautiful...she smelled...she smelled like a flower garden...  
The clapping of Merle giving Celena a high five snapped him out of it   
again. Merle ran up to him.   
"Check this out!!" She jubilantly exclaimed as she shoved the picture of  
Van's shocked expression under his nose.   
"Merle...PLEASE don't show that to anyone..." Merle looked at Celena,  
looked back to Van, whispered something about 'blackmail' and ran off.  
"They're just joking." Hitomi said, putting her hand on his shoulder.   
He looked up to her and smiled.  
"I know." He bit his lip and pointed to the dance floor. "Um...you   
wanna...um..." Hitomi smiled.  
"I'd love to."   
Their first dance was a tango, and the beautiful thing about a tango is   
that it's a GREAT ice breaker. Van quickly lost his nervousness, and   
was able to let himself go and enjoy himself. Hitomi was relieved. She  
was begining to think that Merle had perhaps done TOO good a job on her.  
She had certainly done a fabulous job with Van.  
The next dance was a waltz. Van seemed to be loosing his nerve again.  
"What's wrong?" Hitomi asked. Van laughed.  
"Nothing really...I guess..."  
"Van..."  
"I'm nervous. I keep on thinking I'm going to step on your feet...or trip   
you...or spin you into a wall..." Hitomi laughed.  
"Is that all? Don't worry, Van. I'm not going to think any less of you  
if you do any of that..."  
"I kind of wanted to sweep you off your feet." Hitomi giggled and tapped  
him on the nose.  
"Van, you worry way too much. You've ALREADY swept me off my feet. I love  
you. Everything you do makes me love you more. Even if you spin me into  
a wall, I'll still love you, okay? So relax." Van's eyes softened.  
"Really?"  
"Of course." She closed in the space between them and rested her head  
on his shoulder. "Ne, Van?"  
"Uh...yeah?"  
"You smell good." Van turned crimson. "Can I tell you a secret?"  
"Yeah"  
"Well, back when I was on the Mystic Moon, whenever I wanted to get   
away from it all, I went to this field. There's not many of them in   
Japan, so I had to drive quite a way to get to one. I'd just sit there  
and think. It was the only place I could feel completely at ease. You  
know why?"  
"Why?"   
"Because of you. You smell like a field. So I felt like you were around,  
and since you were around I could forget my problems..."  
"Hitomi..." Hitomi looked up to face him. "Hitomi..."  
"What's wrong?"  
"Nothing...I just, don't know what to say..." Hitomi was having a lot of   
trouble keeping her heart rate under control. Van didn't really say   
anything, but he kept on saying so much with that look he kept on   
giving her. He had total adoration in his eyes, they were practically   
liquid with emotion. Hitomi smiled at him and put her finger to his   
lips.  
"You don't have to say anything. You're an open book." Van smiled, his   
eyes captured by the glitter in Hitomi's. The sight of her blushing  
cheeks, the feel of her finger on his lips. The music had ended, but   
he didn't really care. Most of the eyes in the room were on him and   
his partner, but he didn't really notice. All he knew is that one  
minute his hand was removing her finger from his lips, and the next,  
his lips were on hers.  
  
The dance hall erupted in cheers.  
  
-The End-  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
My first successful sequal!! YEAH!! It is now 1:41am Thursday,   
September 13th. I started this on Monday, the next day was that horrible   
day that the world trade center got hit with those jets. You all know   
about it, I'm sure, so I really would rather not get into it. It's hit way  
too close to home for me. This fic was my escape from reality this week...  
though reality definately affected my writing. Sorry I got a little dark  
on you guys.  
Anyway, I very much hope you enjoyed this fic as much as I enjoyed   
writing it.   
Van: *runs to Sailor Red* THANK YOU!!  
Sailor Red: Well you and your little gang there made me write it...  
Van: *changes subject* Koji's making a lot of noise with fireworks  
out there, you wanna watch?  
Chichiri: *from outside* ARGH MY EYE! IT BURNS! LOOK WHAT YOU DID! I'M   
BLIND, NO DA!!   
Sailor Red: Um...maybe not...you guys go have fun...  
Howell: Your loss...we're having an anime marathon out here...  
Sailor Red: You are...  
Koji: yeah! Kodomo no Omacha / Marmalade Boy deathmatch! It just came out!  
Miki and Sana-chan are about to go at it!! Then Yuu and Hayama!! AND   
there's rumors they're gonna tag team!  
Sailor Red: ALL RIGHT I'M THERE!! Peck him Hayama!!  
  
Mata ne minna!  
  
Further disclaimers. Legend of Zelda belongs to Nintendo. Oh, and I don't  
know who does Marmalade boy, but it's not me.  
ps There is no Kodomo no Omacha/Maramalde boy deathmatch anime. There  
should be, but there isn't...  
No Chichiri's were harmed in the making of this fanfic. (He was faking it  
because if I came out to watch, he'd be the one stuck sitting on the   
compost heap.)  
  



End file.
